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The efficacy of the host defense system is a determining factor for the outcome of antimicrobial events in infected patients. The neutrophil granulocyte plays a key role in the lung's defense against bacterial invasion and in the absence of a sufficient attraction of functionally intact neutrophils in the lung, following bacterial challenge, severe pulmonary infection may result. The involvement of phagocytes in pneumonia is well known: infiltration of lung parenchyma by neutrophils occurs within a short time in response to infection and is followed by an influx of monocytes. We investigated the effects of antimicrobial therapy in pneumonia on polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) phagocytosis.

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